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The Godfather (1972)
A Perfect Masterpiece By Its Definition
The Godfather (1972) 10/10!!!
Yep, it is still perfect! My 4th viewing ✅ and my opinion hasn't changed one bit. I have actually notice a couple of new things that have made me appreciate the film even more! Quite frankly, it really ie insane just how good it is and how even 50 years later, it totally still holds up! A masterpiece of complete brilliance with genius storylines interconnected so beautifully ultimately making it super satisfying for audiences to connect the dots and really understand what's actually going on. The picture really showcases what life in the mafia is like and it is done with so much heart that you genuinely love and care about these characters as they are actually pretty relatable characters who often make a lot of sense, but yet are unfortunately born into a family full of crime! There are really not that many films out there that successfully manage to give the viewer an exciting and thrilling viewing experience, no matter how often they watch it. A real masterpiece by its definition filled with all-time great and iconic performances that essentially make up for an iconic, timeless classic that really has stood the test of time and presumably will be relevant! One of those films humanity can be proud of when looking back at pop cultural trends that have happened over time. Always a genuine privilege for me whenever I watch this beauty! 10/10.
The Book of Boba Fett (2021)
The Insane Castration Of An Iconic Character
Who asked for this show? Actually... a lot of people. In retrospect it would have been better if we hadn't gotten it at all since they completely destroyed the identity of the beloved Boba Fett character making him soft, weak, incompetent and just damn stupid! What started off as an interesting character in The Mandalorian quickly became a joke when he got his own show. You would think that that's when the character would blossom right? Oh, how wrong you are!
The Book of Boba Fett is a series whose tone has just felt so off and dysfunctional! The first 4 episodes are completely different to episodes 5 and 6 and by the time you make it to the final, 7th episode, you wonder which type of episode are you gonna get? Will it be more like the last two episodes (which would be a good thing) or will it be more like the first 4 (which would be a terrible thing)? What they then decided to do, since these versions of the show are tonally so off, they desperately tried to forcefully merge those two versions together and ta-da... Episode 7! Yikes!
It is also beyond me why we focused 4 entire episodes on our main character's backstory (but not even his proper backstory from when he was a child which would have been way more interesting). Why? We've already seen him in The Mandalorian and most of it was self-explanatory. It's like the creators think of us as dummies and ask themselves
"Oh, surely they wouldn't figure that out on their own right? Clearly our audience is the most stupid and simple-minded one out there, so we have to explain every little detail even if it isn't interesting or completely detrimental to the pacing of our show".
It is amazing how barely any time was spent on Boba Fett's present storyline. You could just tell that they didn't really have a story to tell. On top of that, they made our protagonist soft. I don't view Boba Fett as any kind of threat anymore. If I was in the Star Wars universe and Boba Fett walked up to me alone (and of course with his mask off because apparently that's just what he does now), I would laugh my ass off, probably throwing a cherry at his bald head and I can guarantee you, he would ask me whether I wanted to join his team.
The saddest thing about this show however was that I was genuinely happy whenever the show didn't focus on Boba Fett, but instead on someone else because that's when it actually triumphed, however that's the problem.
You have a main character who constantly gets disrespected in every way imaginable, yet does nothing about it making us question how he could have possibly survived for this long in the Star Wars universe and how Darth Vader hired him as one of his most trusted, loyal and best bounty hunters in the entire galaxy???
I didn't get "Oh, I'm Boba Fett and a real badass" vibes. No! I got "Oh I am a balding, middle aged man with a cool uniform on, but the helmet is itchy, so I want to get a nice tan on my bald head in the open sun on Tatooine" vibes!
Sure, we got a beloved character back in the penultimate episode only for them to disrespect said character in the next episode. You know a show is bad when every single time the main character comes on, you start rolling your eyes hoping he would finally get killed, but knowing it's just not gonna happen! And isn't it wonderful to have a PG-rated version of the Sons of Anarchy in the Star Wars universe who are just about the most boring, uninteresting, annoying, frustrating and unlikeable characters?!
Overall, The Book of Boba Fett is a series disrespecting the essence of Star Wars in so many ways and a lead who is completely incapable of handling his business by himself! Star Wars fans deserve so much better! It is amazing how all these words came out from someone whose favorite franchise of all time is Star Wars! Let that sink in! 4/10.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: New World Order (2021)
A Surprisingly GREAT Start
WHAT?! The first episode of 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' is over just like THAT! 42 minutes (without the credits) that flew by so fast! This 1st episode was surprisingly GREAT! Genuine emotion, great and grounded character studies make for an extremely satisfying continuation of the story after Endgame!
The MCU keeps surprising me! I thought this would just be a somewhat generic action show, but nope, this is truly high quality with such a real-world feel! Great, GREAT episode! Can't wait for next Friday!!!
WandaVision (2021)
A Satisfying Conclusion With Endless Possibilities For The Future
The WandaVision finale is the first big showdown of Phase 4 of the MCU!
Rarely has a show captured human emotions as well as this one! Deep character studies with ramifications leading to some of the most satisfying moments in the ENTIRE MCU! This show has proven that you can turn secondary characters into main characters without making it seem forced! Wanda Maximoff might just turn out to be the best and most complex character in the entire MCU! Talk about a female character written RIGHT!
I am completely baffled by how the MCU still manages to keep audiences worldwide interested and super engaged in their material!
Just when I thought Endgame was the MCU's peak, I'm now thinking it might get even BIGGER which is extremely hard to fathom! To the episode 9 viewers, let the credits roll COMPLETELY! The future of the MCU is looking more exciting than it ever has! The sheer possibilities for more great storytelling and intriguing directions they could take the MCU to, leave me super excited and fulfilled for the upcoming MCU projects!
You already know I'll be rewatching this show like 10 times ;)
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Please End This Franchise Already!
Tim Miller's 'Terminator: Dark Fate' (2019) is the 6th(!) and hopefully FINAL film of this washed out franchise!
This is by far the worst one out of all the 'Terminator' films. It is so bad that I don't even want to give you a summary of the plot!
I have reached the point where I am sick and tired of these stupid rehashes!
I do not want any more new 'Terminator' films made! The first two are awesome, but the rest is poor and THIS ONE is pure garbage!
I'm so happy that this film did not have a mid- or end-credit scene like in 'Terminator Salvation'! Hopefully this was the last one. Huh, Paramount, are you listening? Let this franchise go!
I really thought that bringing back Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor would make the film at least a little better, but unfortunately that was not the case whatsoever! I actually thought she was really unlikable in this film and the horrible lines the woman had to say, I gotta say, I kinda feel bad for her! I am sure Linda Hamilton was hoping for a more glorious return which evidently wasn't the case!
In my opinion the CGI was fine, but really not groundbreaking whatsoever! The story is super generic and the characters are all unlikable and badly written and THAT scene in the beginning of the film... you gotta be kidding me! This movie basically completely laughed in the faces of 'The Terminator' and 'Terminator 2: Judgement Day'! Totally unacceptable!
The pacing of the film is also really bad. I genuinely had a hard time making it through the full movie!
Overall, 'Terminator: Dark Fate' does about everything wrong a film could do! If I could define the death of the 'Terminator' franchise in any way, I would just point at this entire film! What a gigantic catastrophe!!! 3/10
Terminator Genisys (2015)
Ohhhh... So Many Timelines!!!
Alan Taylor's 'Terminator Genisys' (2015) is the 5th film (Yeah I know, it's crazy, right?) in the 'Terminator' franchise and it is about Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) going back in time to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke).
I find it absolutely hilarious, but also a bit frustrating that the studio seems to really want to suck all the air out of the 'Terminator' franchise until it isn't profitable anymore. This franchise could have been done after its first film, but Cameron decided to direct a second film and obviously pulled off a fantastic sci-fi action film beloved by the film fan community! Then, 12 years later, the third 'Terminator' film came along and, in a way, set up the fourth film in 'Terminator Salvation'! The ending of 'Salvation' could have easily been the finale of the franchise, yet they still weren't done with it and decided to make 'Terminator Genisys'.
Let me now talk about the fifth film, 'Terminator Genisys'.
First of all, I would like to commend the film for its first 40 minutes which showed a lot of great potential as well as a ton of nostalgia coming through for the fans of the franchise! I actually really liked that section of the film because it felt somewhat like 'Back to the Future Part II' by going back to a time we are already familiar with from the first two 'Terminator' films!
However when that first third of the film is over, the movie turns into this confusing science fiction film that demonstrates so much familiarity from the franchise's first two iterations.
Another problem with the film is that it struggles when it comes to the pacing as it moves closer to the end.
I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again because it is so important: this film is CONFUSING! It really gets hard following the logistics of time travel or at least this film's understanding of said phenomenon!
Overall, 'Terminator Genisys' is a film that seemed promising, but wasted so much of its potential due to bland, generic storytelling! Failing to bring back the glory of the franchise, this iteration remains predictable at the end of the day! 5/10
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
"Whatever you do... don't fall asleep!"
Wes Craven's 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' (1984) is a horror classic about a mysterious, clawed killer tormenting a group of teenagers by making it into their dreams.
Talk about an intense and deeply unsettling horror film!
'A Nightmare on Elm Street' introduces us to one of the most iconic horror film villains of all time, Freddy Krueger!
This is one of those movies that can make you have nightmares or even make you afraid of falling asleep!
This film has plenty of things in it that I can truly appreciate.
Let's talk about the great villain Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund)! I genuinely really like so many elements about the character. His cool look, his menacing face and claws, his deep and scary voice, the fact that he haunts people in their dreams and the vicious way in which he kills them. This is why Freddy Krueger works so well! It is also because people have control of themselves when they are awake, however when they dream, they lose that control and are trapped in a dream which makes our villain even scarier! Freddy Krueger just has this great effect on the audience because they cannot figure out how you beat someone that kills you in your sleep through your dreams!
The composer Charles Bernstein did a great job with his soundtrack for this motion picture! Bernstein's soundtrack has really become iconic in the film fan community! The way he uses his music to exemplify a speciific situation and to emphasize as well as enhance the danger makes the entire experience so much more worthwhile and riveting for the viewer!
Fun fact: This film marks Johnny Depp's first acting performance (according to IMDb)!
The cast does a pretty decent job overall, especially Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger of course!
On top of that, the pacing of the film is really good. The movie itself isn't that long and it is also pretty fast-paced! Is this film predictable? In some areas it is, but in others it isn't! You don't know how the film will end, but there are certain plot points that are indeed predictable!
Unfortunately, my biggest issue with this film was that it was too "basic" and generic when it came to the storytelling! In my opinion the side characters are way too naive not to think that there is anything supernatural going on. I get that they try to use rationality to explain certain situations, but I'll just say one thing: "the hat"! The people, who have seen the film, know what I am talking about! Really? That wasn't enough to believe her? How much more evidence do you need??? Like in pretty much every other horror movie, this film also has those cliché horror movie moments that only ever happen in horror movies.
Apart from that, I had a great time watching this horror classic!
Overall, 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' is a good horror film with a great villain and it is even self-aware every once and awhile. A real horror classic that comes along with a cool story and a kick-ass soundtrack! 6/10
Terminator Salvation (2009)
A Step In The Right Direction For The 'Terminator' Franchise
McG's 'Terminator Salvation' (2009) is the 4th film in the 'Terminator' franchise and tells the story of John Connor (Christian Bale) living in the post-apocalyptic world trying to gain back control of the planet Earth against the robots.
After the first two strong 'Terminator' films, the franchise took a big dive in its third film. The big question then was: could the franchise turn it around? As a matter of fact, with 'Terminator Salvation' the franchise definitely does have a nice uptick! What makes this film so accessible and what are this film's flaws? I will go into that in my review of 'Terminator Salvation'!
This 4th iteration of the franchise is all about continuing the story after the devastating ending in 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'.
Generally speaking I actually had a surprisingly good time with this film!
There are a couple of things I absolutely loved about this film. First and foremost Christian Bale delivers an incredible performance as John Connor! His performance is so magnetic and authentic! You never think of him as Bruce Wayne, Patrick Bateman, Dick Cheney or any of the other roles he's played throughout his career!
Another thing I really enjoyed about this movie is that it had some truly terrific and intense action sequences. I am not familiar with McG's work as a director, but I can tell you with full confidence that I was really impressed with the execution of the action scenes in this film!
Having said all of that, this motion picture has its share of problems as well. When it comes to the story, I must say it is pretty generic and the storytelling is also relatively poor! On top of that, the film is highly predictable and it's really easy to call certain things before they happen!
Even though I clearly have some serious problems with the movie, I was really pleased that some of the emotional scenes worked quite well. Despite not having a great story, you feel like the film's heart is in the right place!
Overall, 'Terminator Salvation' is an entertaining 4th film in the 'Terminator' franchise with a lot of highs and its fair share of lows as well! 5/10
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Oh... Claire Danes...
Well... that was a downer!
Jonathan Mostow's 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines' (2003) is the third film in the 'Terminator' franchise and it tells the story of a machine from a post-apocalyptic future traveling back in time to protect a man and a woman from an advanced robotic assassin to ensure they both survive a nuclear attack.
This film has some serious problems! I am genuinely somewhat shocked by the number of people that actually believe that this is a good film. This film has the word "generic" written all over it! It also fails to satisfy at the end of the day. One of my biggest problems with this film was Claire Danes's character Kate Brewster who I just find super annoying and stupid! In my opinion her character could have been completely cut out of the film and it wouldn't have changed anything (with slight adjustments of course). I am not blaming Claire Danes! I blame the writing team who decided to include her character with the obvious goal of trying to replace Sarah Connor, an attempt that failed miserably!
Arnold Schwarzenegger was solid as the Terminator, however he did show a little too much emotion during some of the scenes which is obviously not how we got to know the Terminator character! I also didn't really care all that much about John Connor. The only reason why I felt something for the character, was because of the great character arc he had in 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day'!
In my opinion this film actually slaps the previous two 'Terminator' films in the face the way 'The Matrix Revolutions' (2003) did it to the 'Matrix' franchise!
Having said all of those negative things about this film, I do actually have quite a number of aspects that I really like about this film! Personally I find the pacing of the movie to be good and the action sequences were also nice to look at (despite not being as good as in the first two). On top of that I somewhat liked the villain!
Finally let me talk about the ending of this film! I thought it was pretty unsatisfying, HOWEVER I did not expect it and it did set-up a fourth film pretty nicely by laying the cards open! I definitely appreciate this type of boldness from the writers and basically everybody else who went along with it!
Overall 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines' is a film with many flaws, yet it still offers an experience worthwhile for audiences worldwide thanks to fun action sequences! 4/10
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
"Hasta La Vista, Baby!"
James Cameron's 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' (1991) is the sequel to 'The Terminator' (1984) and it is about a cyborg, identical to be the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her teenage son, John Connor, from a more advanced and powerful cyborg.
Talk about a cool movie! This is one of the best pure sci-fi action films of all time (don't mind my rating)! It is genuinely ridiculous just how good this movie really is! The film excels in so many important and different areas and ends up being so much more than just a sci-fi action movie! At the end of the day, 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' offers such a rich experience for the audience as well as some really terrific emotional moments!
The T-800 versus the T-1000 is genuinely a great match-up. Making Arnold Schwarzenegger a good guy in this film was the right choice in my opinion while Robert Patrick is playing the T-1000, an AWESOME villain!
This film has great visual effects as well as a well thought out story overall. The movie delves deeper into the mythology and the storytelling is so much better than in the first film.
I also found it highly impressive that the pacing in this film is phenomenal! At no particular point did I ever get bored!
James Cameron and William Wisher wrote the screenplay and they managed to pack in so much great thought which added so much to the film's gravitas! Cameron also directed the movie and clearly executed it amazingly well!
The composer Brad Fiedel did a really good job with the soundtrack as well. The music especially worked during emotional scenes as well as throughout thrilling action scenes.
Furthermore it is also really refreshing to have a science fiction film that actually innovates certain things in the genre through creativity!
One of the things that surprised me the most is how much I actually cared about these characters! There were a couple of moments that were truly heart-warming and others that really moving!
The bond/friendship between the T-800 Terminator and John Connor is just beautiful thanks to the great dynamic that Edward Furlong and Arnold Schwarzenegger had!
If I had to point out a negative thing about this film, then I would mention how a few scenes are a bit too basic and predictable, but the film didn't even that many of those typical movie tropes (that can ruin a film) which I really appreciated!
'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' is one of the most influential science fiction as well as action films of all time! James Cameron proved a very valuable lesson to Hollywood: you can make an action film accessible for all interest groups! Cameron also gave us a really strong female character with Sarah Connor who is beautifully portrayed by Linda Hamilton!
Overall 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' is better than the first film thanks to a fantastic story, great storytelling, a threatening villain and awesome characters! This is one of the most innovative, creative and important science fiction films to have ever come out! I really love this film and I plan on watching it over and over and over and over again in the future! 7/10
The Terminator (1984)
"I'll be back!"
James Cameron's 'The Terminator' (1984) is one of Cameron's many iconic films. This sci-fi action epic is about a human soldier sent from 2029 to 1984 to stop a seemingly unstoppable cyborg killing machine.
'The Terminator' is the film that made Arnold Schwarzenegger a MEGA movie star!
This classic from the '80s offers a very rewarding experience with a great concept for the story!
Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator is absolutely fantastic. He really does look like a robot, excuse me, cyborg and he behaves accordingly! And oh, by the way, "I'll be back"!
Furthermore I totally have to commend the phenomenal visual effects that, to this day, still look fantastic! The make-up department obviously deserves a lot of praise as well for doing such a good job!
Unfortunately there are also a couple of problems that I have with this movie!
I really don't like that there had to be a romance squished into this film! It was completely unnecessary and I just didn't buy it whatsoever! What made me even more frustrated was the motivation of our male hero, the reason why he went back in time. Absolutely preposterous!
Another thing I don't like about this film is that killing off the Terminator seems to be ridiculously hard. I'll explain what I mean by that in an example. This film has a typical movie trope that's been in movies since forever! Just when you think a character probably died, nope, he or she comes back to life! And then this character supposedly "dies again", but nope, not dead. And guess what, the exact same thing happens... AGAIN! And of course after each supposed death, there is a celebration and a relief. I mean I am sick and tired of this type of storytelling... at least if it is done to this extreme!
Finally I also had some issues with the pacing during a few scenes. Certain scenes were just too slow and really sucked the energy out of the film's flow, but for the most part, the film had pretty decent pacing!
Overall, 'The Terminator' is a really fun and entertaining sci-fi action flick with a great villain as well as pure satisfaction for genre fans! 6/10
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
Why go for the twist?
Robert Rodriguez's 'From Dusk Till Dawn' (1996) is an action crime film about two criminals taking hostages with the objective to go to a place in Mexico safely.
The film was written by Quentin Tarantino and he surprisingly even has a pretty big role in this film!
Let's first talk about the first half of the film because we do need to talk about it without spoilers of course!
The first half watches itself like a classic Tarantino film (even though it was directed by Robert Rodriguez). We are familiar with Tarantino's way of writing dialogue which we know from countless of his other films such as 'Reservoir Dogs' (1992), 'Pulp Fiction' (1994), 'Inglourious Basterds' (2009), 'Django Unchained' (2012), just to name a few! The way Rodriguez manages to keep the tension high while telling his story, is pretty impressive! The actor who impressed me the most was George Clooney! He is completely in character throughout the entire film and he plays his role so well! I also don't know why Tarantino was criticized for his performance because he was good!
And now onto the second half of the film which essentially starts off with a big twist that remains relevant for the rest of the film!
Oh boy... WHY?! The film was doing pretty well up until the point. But from then on, it turned into this weird, trashy film, a wacky horror flick! I think choosing thar route hurt the film's quality, but I still respect that this film clearly aimed for a specific fan base who would eat this film up! Even though it did not quite work for me, I still appreciate the creativity behind it!
Overall, 'From Dusk Till Dawn' is a film that will work for people who are just looking for a fun and purely entertaining film. At the end of the day, you really shouldn't take this film all that serious because it doesn't take itself serious! 5/10
Friday the 13th (1980)
An Overrated Horror Cult Classic!
Sean S. Cunningham's 'Friday the 13th' (1980) is basically a teen horror film about a mysterious killer on the loose haunting a group of young camp counselors.
This is one of the most overrated horror films of all time! To think that this is actually a good film, makes me go absolutely nuts!
'Friday the 13th' watches itself like a super cheesy '80s B-movie! As far as the quality of this film is concerned, it is in the same ballpark as movies like 'Jaws 3-D' (1983) and 'Alien 3' (1992)! Funny enough that I think that those two movies deserve a little more credit as I believe that they are a bit underrated!
With 'Friday the 13th' we have a movie that struggles to tell multiple storylines all at once. When the movie starts off, we are introduced to a female character and think that this will be our main character from now on, however the film then changes the setting and introduces new characters. As the audience, you are confused why you then spend so much time with these other characters until you find out that the introduction for our first character was almost completely unnecessary! That could have been easily cut short!
If only that was the only problem with this film...
Like I've already just said, this film is not edited well
Furthermore the acting performances as well as the line deliveries from the actors range from mediocre to atrocious! I am usually quite forgiving when it comes to acting performances (if they sometime seem a little off), however in THIS FILM there was some seriously poor acting!
Obviously with a mysterious killer on the loose, we need a killer reveal. Personally I liked the reveal, but I thought the killer's background and motivation was too shallow!
Overall, 'Friday the 13th' is a completely overrated horror film, yet it is still watchable. I am sure you will get the best viewing experience if you watch this film with a bunch of friends ridiculing the whole situation and making fun of the film! I didn't hate this film (even thought it may have sounded that way), I just think that other horrror movies deserve more attention than the 'Friday the 13th' franchise! 4/10
The Pelican Brief (1993)
A Deeply Unsettling Government Conspiracy
Alan J. Pakula's 'The Pelican Brief' (1993) is a crime drama about the law student Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts) uncovering a conspiracy, putting herself and others in danger.
Here we have an interesting, yet overly long film with a very complex nature. Personally I am not the biggest fan of such films because close to all of them have massive pacing issues!
Hands down, the strongest aspect of this film lies in the great performances from Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts (she was so good!)!
I have somewhat of a hard time rating this film appropriately since it does have some real strengths, but at the same time there are some obvious weaknesses as well. I like the fact that this film does not shy away from pointing fingers at the US government which is very atypical of Hollywood movies!
My biggest problem with this film however is that it is too convoluted in the story department. At one particular point the general audience has a rough time following everything clearly!
The other issue that I have with the film is that in way too many instances our characters are miraculously saved in such cliché movie moments! This undermines the drama of it all!
There are plenty of positive things to take away from this film and I really did want to end up giving the film a 6/10, but the film let me down too many times in crucial moments throughout the film thanks to its bland predictability!
Overall, 'The Pelican Brief' (1993) is a political thriller/crime drama that manages to critically assess a political conspiracy well! Unfortunately the film's overall quality is tainted by the predictability as well as the film's pacing!
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Do you believe in the "Blair Witch"?
Well... that was rather unsatisfying.
'The Blair Witch Project' (1999) was directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez and it is about three film students vanishing after traveling into a Maryland forest to film a documentary on the local "Blair Witch" legend, leaving only their footage behind. This film basically started the whole "found footage" trend or at least popularized it as far as I know!
How is this film? First of all, what was really striking to me, was that the film's runtime is only about 80 minutes which is very short for a feature film. Having said that, I would have probably cut the film down to about an hour to make it a bit fresher and tighter!
A majority of this film takes place in the forest. I think it is very relatable that being in the forest while it's completely dark is a pretty scary and unsettling thought.
One thing that I definitely need to commend this film for, is that the characters are very well written.
Here we have a bunch of youngsters trying to make the next big thing happen, very quickly realize that they got themselves into a situation that they did not anticipate and therefore don't know how to deal with!
If you think that there are not those kind of people out there, then you have way too much faith in the human race!
My big problem with this film is that, even though it is pretty entertaining, it is such an incredibly slow burn without anything really happening!
This film lacks substance!
In my opinion this horror picture doesn't do anything ground-breaking that I can appreciate. As far as the found footage usage is concerned, I can at least say that it makes the best possible use out of that specific film technique, a technique that I am generally speaking not a fan of.
Overall, 'The Blair Witch Project' (1999) is a horror film that only fans of that particular style will gravitate towards!
Cats (2019)
A Real Cringefest! By the way, why are some of the cats wearing sneakers?
Tom Hooper's 'Cats' (2019) is the worst musical I have ever seen. It really pains me that the director who made one of the best musicals of all time ('Les Misérables', 2012) now comes along with one of the worst ones of all time!
'Cats' is a film that is hugely problematic on so many levels!
As far as the musical numbers are concerned, there are 2 good songs (if you count the outro, perhaps 3), the rest is completely irrelevant and such a waste of your time. The storytelling is basically just not really there, it's included in the totally forgettable, unspectacular and boring songs.
It cannot be stressed enough just how stupid the entire film is! The concept of the story is actually quite interesting, it deals with the reincarnation process. The huge problem is the execution! The story can be found within the songs, HOWEVER these songs are mostly inaudible! It is so hard to understand anything and quite frankly, you just don't really care about anything because you are so distracted by the ridiculous look of the cats!
This has to be one of the weirdest and most confusing films I have ever seen in my entire life and I have seen some really weird stuff, but THIS took it to a whole new level! Taylor Swift was a bit of a marketing gimmick since she is barely in the film. James Corden played the only cat who I found remotely interesting. While Jennifer Hudson's character was not appealing to me whatsoever, her musical and acting performance on the other hand was outstanding! She put so much emotion into her role (specifically talking about one song at the end) that I almost thought that I should care more. That's how good she was!
As one critic put it (and I paraphrase), "This is the worst thing that happened to cats since dogs".
You know what? That's a great statement that totally applies for this peculiar situation!
With that, I will come to my conclusion!
Overall, 'Cats' is a horrific musical that could have been much better, yet the film suffers from an identity crisis. It doesn't know whether these characters are supposed to be cats or humans?! At the end of the day, you see human beings in cat costumes acting like they're cats and it is horrible and very cringy to watch as well as really unsettling overall! 2/10
Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (1966)
A Glorious Finale To The Most Popular And Iconic Western Of All Time!
Sergio Leone's 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' (1966) is the third and final film in the 'Dollar' trilogy. The film's two predecessors are 'A Fistful of Dollars' (1964) and 'For a Few Dollars More' (1965).
'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' (1966) is a very popular Western about... you know what? I won't even summarize the plot for you. Everybody needs to watch this classic by going in completely blind!
Let me talk about our 3 main actors.
The "Good": Clint Eastwood plays "Blondie", a professional gunslinger trying to earn a few dollars.
The "Bad": Lee Van Cleef plays the hitman "Angel Eyes" who doesn't mind going the dirty route when it comes to making money.
The "Ugly": Eli Wallach plays Tuco who is a wanted outlaw.
All 3 men have very different personalities, yet they share a common goal: making a ton of money!
Before I start talking about the specifics, I would like to clarify that my expectations for this film were enormous! I was expecting a specific type of Western and I got something else. Keep that in mind as you read my review. Of course I will rewatch the film and if my thoughts change in any significant shape or form, I will let you know with an update.
As someone who is a huge fan of 'For a Few Dollars More' (and literally calls it their favorite Western of all time), it was especially hard for me to accept seeing Lee Van Cleef play the bad guy. Having said that, he did a wonderful job as the villain of the story!
Eli Wallach did a really good job at capturing the behavior of someone who is desperate for money as well as revenge! He is a very unpredictable character since you never know what he is going to do next!
Finally our great Western hero Clint Eastwood who is charismatic as always and seeing him smoke a cigar has still not worn off one bit!
This is a film that will NEVER get old! It will always prevail through the test of time! I really cannot see people ever discrediting it!
'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' might just be the most complex Western in history! The thing about this film that really threw me off guard was that it isn't your traditional Western film (which I was expecting), but instead it goes the extra mile and gives us a little history lesson for the time of the 'Civil War'!
At times, I did think that a few of the scenes were a tad bit long, but nothing too major. The most important thing is that I never got bored and instead my eyes were glued onto the screen in anticipation of what would happen next!
I find it absolutely fascinating how this 3-hour-epic has managed to keep my attention at its highest level for such a long time! Rarely any movie can do that! But this isn't like any other movie, this is a really special one!
I would obviously be remissed if I didn't at least mention the unbelievably genius climax (the final 25 minutes of the film)! Everything that happens during that climax is pure perfection! The music, the cinematography, the acting, the stakes, the insane level of tension!
Speaking of the music, Ennio Morricone perhaps gave us the greatest soundtrack he ever created! There are so many jaw-dropping musical moments in there that clearly dominate on-screen and Leone lets the music shine in its pure and sheer excellence! Morricone has the ability to make you feel uplifted, motivated or to make you feel really unsettled! There is a reason why I consider him one of the best musical composers, arguably the best, in history! His music will always live on forever in the same way that Leone's movies will forever be relevant!
I also find it really interesting that, out of all 3 'Dollar' movies, 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' is the most emotional film! I genuinely love how the audience has NO IDEA what will happen next. This film is completely unpredictable! Sure, you can take a guess at what might happen and you might even get lucky, but you do not see these things coming from a mile away like with a lot of other movies!
Overall, 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' was a real game changer in the entire film industry. Leone proved the world that you don't need to be an American or be a Hollywood director to make a great film! You can make a great film from no matter where you are in the world!
This film is long, yet well-paced, complex, yet comprehensible! It is rewatchable, iconic, beautiful and strong! An EPIC, GRAND MASTERPIECE! 8/10
Per qualche dollaro in più (1965)
"Bravo!"
Sergio Leone's 'For a Few Dollars More' (1965) is the sequel to 'A Fistful of Dollars' (1964) and marks the second film in the 'Dollar' trilogy. This classic Western is about the two bounty hunters, Manco (Clint Eastwood) and Colonel Douglas Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef), chasing the Western outlaw El Indio (Gian Maria Volontè).
Greatness!
This has been my 3rd viewing of the film within just 3 months. Why, you might ask yourself? Because the film is so incredibly great and rewatchable! I remember when I watched the film for the first time, I laughed out loud and started clapping multiple times since this film has so many undeniably awesome moments! I don't know why this movie doesn't get the deserved attention from so many people. The problem might very well be that this film stands in the shadow of its iconic follow-up 'The Good, The Bad and the Ugly' (1966)!
Having said that, 'For a Few Dollars More' absolutely needs to be talked about much more often!
This motion picture has a great script and a great story overall. Sergio Leone's execution of this film is also astounding!
I don't know how you execute this story so well, but somehow Leone did it!
With a runtime of 132 minutes, this picture could have totally felt overly long and dragged out, but thanks to the fantastic editing and pacing of the film as well as the genius storytelling, it never gets boring whatsoever!
Here we have Clint Eastwood, whose work (including his Western work) I am very familiar with, Lee Van Cleef and Gian Maria Volontè who I need to watch more movies of.
Clint Eastwood loves that cigar in his mouth, it's iconic and I love it! It never gets tired seeing him with a cigar during a close-up! He has completely mastered the look of a Western hero! His costume as well as his entire look are just pure greatness!
Lee Van Cleef plays this older bounty hunter with a lot of experience and also a fair amount of knowledge. Him and Eastwood have this super cool back and forth with each other!
Gian Maria Volontè plays the villain El Indio who has an awesome theme music and a great backstory tying all the different dots and characters together. It all makes sense at the end of the day!
Speaking of El Indio's theme, ENNIO MORRICONE, the genius, the mastermind composer, did an extraordinary job with the soundtrack! All of these songs are beautiful to listen to and have so much meaning that they actually elevate the story further, in a way musical pieces rarely ever do (unless they're in a musical)! The Leone-Morricone duo is iconic and unbeatable! My favorite piece is listening to the BEAUTIFUL chimes!
Overall, 'For a Few Dollars More' is one of my favorite and one of the best movies of all time! I love this film and no matter how many times I watch it, I never ever get tired of it! The final 10 minutes of this film might be the best final 10 minutes I have ever seen in any film, especially when you watch the film for the first time due to the surprise factor!
I will forever be grateful to Ennio Morricone as well as Sergio Leone for their undeniably great contributions to the world of movies! 9/10
Per un pugno di dollari (1964)
"And when I'm dead, I want to remain with the dead. And I would be unhappy if somebody living forces me to remain with the living."
Sergio Leone's 'A Fistful of Dollars' (1964) is the first film in the 'Dollar' trilogy and it is about a wandering gunfighter, often called the "American(o)" or "Joe" (Clint Eastwood), playing two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride and revenge.
This is the Western that kick-started one of the best trilogies/franchises of all time, Sergio Leone's 'Dollar' trilogy!
Let's talk about the things that make 'A Fistful of Dollars' such an iconic, but also good film!
Clint Eastwood is the epitome of a great Western hero! He is super cool, has that special "look" (figuratively and literally) and he always fully immerses himself into his role! Pure dedication!
The story is really good and clear if you pay attention. Sergio Leone does a wonderful job at building towards the climax and then ultimately delivers us, the audience, a pretty satisfying conclusion. You absolutely root for our hero to come out of this film alive and well.
Of course I would be remissed if I didn't talk about Ennio Morricone's soundtrack! The late, great Ennio Morricone gave us so many incredible musical pieces over the many decades!
In 'A Fistful of Dollars' he brings us this great, uplifting and very spiritual Western theme! It is really beautiful to listen to and it is very easy to remember and recognize!
Out of all three 'Dollar' movies, this is the one that is the most held back and rather small in scale and scope compared to the other two.
Clint Eastwood sticking a cigar inside his mouth while his face is in a close-up never gets old or boring!
Overall, 'A Fistful of Dollars' is a glorious Western with a lot of heart and soul! It is a ton of fun to watch and with a runtime of just 99 minutes, it is also very well paced! 7/10
Les Misérables (2012)
A MASTERPIECE IN ITS OWN RIGHT
Tom Hooper's 'Les Misérables' (2012) is a dramatic and outstanding musical about Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) after breaking parole in 19th century France. He then makes a decision that would change his entire life.
Oh my days, this is an extraordinary achievement for musicals! This is so much more than just a film, it is an experience with tremendous heart! It is heart-warming, heart-wrenching, heartbreaking and heartfelt!
'Les Misérables' has a great set design and beautiful cinematography with close-ups turning into wide-angle shots during the musical numbers.
It suffices if we just take a look at the impeccable opening showing the French Flag attached to a huge ship being pulled in by prisoners while the fantastic song 'Look Down' starts playing. Pure perfection!
Here we have a fantastic soundtrack that is so good that you can even play it on its own! Admittedly some of the musical performances are a little weaker than others, but all of them are impactful enough to make the viewer care about the story and the characters!
If I am not mistaken, 2 songs in this film copied the melody from 2 songs out of Tim Burton's musical 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' (2007) (which is actually my favorite musical), however they do fit in their intended scenes!
'Les Misérables' is well written and the pacing is also quite good with the exception of a few scenes that are a tad bit long.
Let's now talk about the superb cast!
Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter and Eddie Redmayne, just to name a few!
It is unbelievable that these phenomenal actors are also gifted with this incredible voice that they show off very beautifully! In my opinion, the best singing duo in this film consists of Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe, hands down! Their musical performances together and even alone are absolutely breathtaking, moving and beautiful! Both of them have great singing voices with the ability to completely capture the audience's attention in the most striking fashion!
Before watching this film, I had already been aware of the outstanding musical talent of Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen from their brilliant performances in Burton's 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'! I genuinely believe Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter don't get nowhere near as much credit as they undoubtedly deserve! They bring this gritty atmosphere with them sprinkled with a funny undertone!
Even the children delivered great acting and musical performances!
Stunning visuals, fluent transitions between scenes, a good romance and plenty of effective emotional gut punches!
There were also a lot of moments when I found the film to be unpredictable.
This was my second viewing of the film and I can confirm that it is rewatchable, however I don't see myself rewatching this film on a very frequent basis due to the long runtime of 158 minutes.
My go-to musical still is 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' which I watch very often!
Overall, 'Les Misérables' is a great achievement for musicals in general because the musical numbers carry this epic and grand piece in an extravagant way! A beautiful soundtrack, outstanding performances and great moments as a whole make this a very rewarding and also rewatchable experience! 8/10
The Hate U Give (2018)
Are you kidding me? The film's AMAZING!
George Tillman Jr.'s 'The Hate U Give' (2018) is an exceptional crime drama about Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg) confronted with the injustice black people have to live with every single day!
I am genuinely shocked because I really wasn't expecting this to be such a good film! I thought this would be one of those overly pretentious movies, but turns out, it wasn't!
Here we have a film that tackles racism in America. All this film does, is hold a mirror to society and depict the systemic racism especially in America! An important film with a lot of depth, heart and soul! Pure emotions!
This is a great example of fantastic directing and acting. Yes, the script is decent, but it isn't revolutionary. This film was all about execution! The directing and acting are what make this movie so gripping, heartbreaking and moving!
Can we just talk about the cast in this film? Amandla Stenberg, Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Anthony Mackie, Common, Sabrina Carpenter and so many others who all deliver phenomenal performances! This is a well functioning cast with great chemistry!
'The Hate U Give' is a timeless film dealing with a subject matter that's still very present today and unfortunately will still be in the future.
The weakest part of this film is the relationship between our protagonist and her boyfriend who I didn't care all that much for. It wasn't bad, but I thought that was the least interesting part of the film.
Other than that, this is a pretty spot-on portrayal of the life in the "hood"!
Even though the film has multiple antagonists, it never feels convoluted. The storytelling is just so organic and it's very fluent! On paper, the film shouldn't even be that good, but somehow it managed to break through the boundaries by simply holding a mirror to society!
Overall, 'The Hate U Give' is a great portrayal about the struggles African Americans have to go through on a daily basis! Heartbreaking, moving, beautiful! 7/10
The Young Philadelphians (1959)
Make It Past The Bad Beginning and You Are In For A Decent Film!
Vincent Sherman's 'The Young Philadelphians' (1959) is a drama about Anthony Judson Lawrence (Paul Newman) trying to handle his social and professional problems in Philadelphia.
This is a black-and-white film that has a really uninteresting and lackluster beginning, however if you make it past that, you will see a somewhat decent film! I like the first hour of the film (except for the beginning) because it sets up a nice romance and the chemistry between the two lovebirds is phenomenal!
Having said that, this is where my problem with the film starts!
The first half of the film is basically a romantic drama, however the second half all of a sudden turns into a personal court drama. To me, this is messy storytelling. It genuinely feels like those two stories should have been kept separately from each other. I don't like how both storylines are featured in one film. It didn't work for me!
On top of that, the film also has major pacing issues at times, especially in its second half!
When we talk about the acting in this film, there are two standout performances; Paul Newman and Barbara Rush who were both exceptional!
Overall, 'The Young Philadelphians' (1959) is a drama with strengths when it comes to the performances and weaknesses when it's about the pacing and the overall cohesiveness! 5/10
Drive (2011)
Thrilling Action and Extreme Brutality!
Nicolas Winding Refn's 'Drive' (2011) is a crime drama about the mysterious Hollywood stuntman and mechanic (Ryan Gosling) moonlighting as a getaway driver and finding himself in trouble when he helps out his neighbor.
This R-rated insanity of a film has a fantastic opening underlined with a great score and showcasing what our protagonist does at night.
I really love Ryan Gosling in this role. I think he did a phenomenal job!
The screenplay is pretty good too. There were quite a few things that I did not expect to happen. Sure, it follows some typical storylines, but for the most part, it tells a unique story with unexpected twists and turns! For that alone, I definitely need to commend the film!
However I do think that the pacing of the film was, at times, a bit too slow.
There is sort of a romance in this film that I just couldn't buy into.
Nevertheless the cinematography was really good and I absolutely adored the soundtrack!
Overall, 'Drive' is a action drama with extremely brutal action scenes (unnecessarily brutal for me) that will definitely please a lot of genre fans out there. This film's main weakness lies within the writing of the characters.
At the end of the day, 'Drive' still is a really entertaining and fun film for the older demographic! 6/10
Days of Thunder (1990)
A Second Half That Fails To Keep Up With Its First Half
Tony Scott's 'Days of Thunder' (1990) is an action/sports drama about the young hot-shot stock car driver Cole Trickle (Tom Cruise) getting his chance to compete at the top level.
Here we have a film that, in its essence, is pretty simple. The story is easy to understand and the cinematography is fun during the racing sequences!
The huge problem with this film is that it is incredibly predictable! The minute the film starts, you already know how it's going to end! Yes, the individual scenes were well shot and they are also really exciting and thrilling to watch, but the ultimate suspense is gone!
Furthermore the second half of the film can, in no shape or form, keep up with its first half!
Did I have a good time with this film? Absolutely, since I am a big fan of cars and racing in movies!
Putting my personal love for automobiles aside, you don't have an impressive movie left!
If you just want to watch some cars race each other, then 'Days of Thunder' is a good choice for you.
However if you are looking for a film that has a deep, rich and fulfilling experience with a lot of heart and substance, you will be left feeling disappointed! 5/10
Risky Business (1983)
"50 dollars? What are we going to do about this, Joel?"
Paul Brickman's 'Risky Business' (1983) is a very enjoyable and entertaining teen comedy about the Chicago teenager Joel (Tom Cruise) looking for "fun" at home while his parents are away for awhile. During that time he gets mixed up in a business teenagers should probably stay away from.
This is one of Tom Cruise's first performances in his career. Here we have a very young Cruise in his very early 20s! I genuinely love this film for a few reasons! I love that it is so relatable and that it is realistic. I would not be surprised if this has already happened somewhere around the world!
I really don't want to give too much away because I think you'd be better off with the surprise factor turned 'on'!
'Risky Business' has a really clever actors, a great chemistry between all the actors and a very fun story! As a teenager in his early 20s I am the perfect age for this film and I find it very relatable! This film was some really funny moments and Tom Cruise is hilarious!
I absolutely loved it and may even call this "one of my favorite movies of all time"! A truly delightful experience that offers itself for so many future repeat viewings! 6/10